The Sun. — London, England, 1864-12-19 00:00:00

CRYSTAL PALACE. —TO - MORROW about either currency or credit ; but Mr LINCOLN IL) UNUSUAL SPECIAL HOLIDAY ATTRACTIONS. General TOM THUMB and his WIFE, Mrs. STRATTON, is sanguine, thinking perhaps the national patience MINNIE WARREN (sister to Mrs. General TOM is as inexhaustible as the national resources. THUMB) and Commodore NUTT, will hold their SECOND GRAND RECEPTION on the Great Orchestraat the Crystal According to the report of the Secretary of the alace, TO-MORROW (Tuesday), Dec. 20, at Three o'clock. The Reception will commence at Three o'clock in front of Treasury, the expenses to be provided during the the Great Orchestra. The full band of the Company will perform selections of popular music during ;he Reception. current year, including the interest of the public Visitors will be allowed to pass to reserved seats on to the orchestra, being also tersonally introduced to the party. debt, amount to 1 ,400,000,000 dols., of which the Tickets, One Shilling each. The infant daughter of the General and Mrs Stratton will customs and miscellaneous sources are estimated to be in alteLdance in the large room adjoinng the Egyptian ,Court from Two o'clock Tickets, Hall-a-Crown each, w ill produce 788,000,000 d o l s., or li tt l e more than half, give admission to the latter as well as entitle to seats on the leaving 620,000,C00 dole. Further measures re vat Orchestra durin g th e R ecept i on . No extra charge for admission. One Shilling only. Addi- tional railway trai ns . Th e P a l ace we lt warmed, and every thi duce this amount to 482,000,000 dole., which are to ng under cover. Open at Ten. Visitors shoull come e arly. „ ue supplied by loans. Mr FESSENDEN objects to the negotiation of a foreign loan, which might perhaps be difficult to obtain, and therefore the loyal people of the States are to be called upon to invest their capital still further in " the national private property." Mr LINCOLN recommends the Congress to pass a constitutional amendment abo lishing slavery throughout the United States. He also informs them that in consequence of depreda tions on the Canadian frontier, the stipulated six months' notiee has been given to Great Britain that he United Stares will increase their naval force on he lakes, so that our North American kinsfolk era CRYSTAL PALACE. —TO - NIORROW Tbe only place to spen d a pleasant day. FREE FROM COLD, FOG, RAIN, or SNOW. Palace open from Ten. Wa , med and brilliantly lighted up at dusk. THE WINTER GARDEN OF THE IN ORLD. CSTAL PALACE. - 'lO - Warmed and brilliantly lignted up at dusk. One Snillin g. _ _ - - NOTE. To-day the palace was bathed in the most brilliant sunshine. The i• terior, warmed up to 55 degrees of Fahren heit (the temperate point), was a most a4reeable promenade, LIFEBOAT SERVICPS.—Durinz the storms of the past year the boats of the National Lifeb9at Institution have saved 426 persons from different wrecks on our coasts, The Institution also expended £14,770 in the same period on lifeboat et tablishments, in addition to grant lug .£1,49 - as rewards for saving 692 shipwrecked peraons by its lifeboats, and other means The Committee of the Institution earnest'y A PPEAL to the public for ASSISTANCE to enable them to meet the continued heavy ctemands on the Institution's 138 lifeboat establishments. not premature in their movements for concentrating their forces. It would certainly be advisable that Great Britain should take the hint and place a strong naval force on the lakes by way of preventing de predations on a larger scale. The President had better act upon the remark of his Secretary to the Treasury, who expresses his opinion that if the ex pense and duration of the war had been foreseen it would not have been undertaken. Mr LINCOLN is, Contributions are received by Messrs Willis and Co., Herries and Co., Coutta and Co., and by all the London and country bankers ; and by the Secretary Richard Lewis, Esq., at the Institution, 14, John-street, Adelphi. ROYAL ENGLISH OPERA, COVENT GARDEN. (Opera Company, Limited.) Last Night but Two before Christmas. First Appearance of Mdlle. AdelaLfe Cornelis. Madame Lemmens-Sherrington. THIS EVENING (Monday), Dec. 19, will be performed Flotow's opera, MARTHA. Lady Henrietta, Madame Lemmens-Sherrington ; Nancy, 3ldlle. Ade'aide Cornet's, from the Royat Conservatoire, BrussAs,•her first appearance in England ; Plunkett. Mr. Henry Corti; Lord Tristan, Mr. A. Cook; Sheriff of Richmond, Mr. E. Drussek ; and Lionel, Mr. Henry Haigh. To conclude with the Third Act of MASANIELLO. Conductor, Mr Alfred Mellon. The Incidental Divertissement will be supported by Mdlles. Duchateau and Bonianti. Commence at half-past 7 o'clock. Private boxes, from 10s. 6d, upwards ; stalls, 7s. ; dress circle, is. ' • upper boxes, 45.; amphitheatre stalls, 3s. and 2s ; pit 2s. 6d. ; gallery, ls. No charge for booking places. The box-office is open from 10 till 5. however, ail yet a long way from confessing this. He talks very largely of the amnesty offered to the Southerners, and continues to make its terms appear very elastic, but the Southerners are not inclined to accept them. He says that though DAVIS cannot re-enter the Union his followers are not pledged, but if they decline his offers he threatens the adop. tion of more rigorous measures. Seeing that the new tactics of the Northern generals are to burn every house and devastate every corn field, it is not easy to see what more rigorous measures can bo in the background. Meanwhile, in military matters, SHERMAN has not yet achieved hie grand success. The accounts are most conflicting, the most noticeable discrepancy being between the Federal account, which places him six miles from Savannah, and the Confederate version, which reports him eighty miles distant. As the Confederate are on the spot and have a much batter knowledge of the locality, they are certainly likely to be better informed, supposing both accounts to be equally genuine. On the 20th, SHERMAN is said to have unsuccessfully attacked Macon, but again he is reported to have crossed the Aconee on the 23d, having been driven back next day. He is said to have captured *Millen, and Federal trans sports of the 30th ult. state that he had occupied that city, and was then six miles from Savannah ; but Richmond papers, four days later, deny the capture of Millen, and report that the Federals had, in American phraseology, been " whipped," and their relief column completely defeated. If SHER MAN gets through, which is doubtful enough, the Southern journals pronounce that he will do so with the loss of half his army. They declare that he is hemmed in by peril, and not the least of his dangers is the lack of supplies, for the destruction along his line of march is almost universal. His cavalry has been repulsed at Sandersville, and the Confe rates do not anticipate an attack upon Savannah, although they are fortifying the place as a matter of precaution, and HARDEE has gone there report ing Macon to be perfectly secure. It has been made the temporary seat of the Legislature. It is now said that SHERMAN'S object is Darien, but the continual shifting of this theoretical destination is very suspicious. A Federal column under FOSTER eft Port Royal on the 29th to jJin him. Federal accounts state that they captured Parcelaligo Bridge between Charleston and Sava.n cab, but Southern versions report that they were severely c'efeated at Gralaamsville, South Caroliiia, and driven back five miles, leaving their dead and wounded, but they still threatened another point on the Charleston and Savannah Railroad. SHER. MAN'S army is continuing he same barbarous course of destruction, and the better feeling of the Federale themselves appears to be outraged by it. The NewYork'fimes admits that his raid will only exasperate and harden the Southerners, and this can hardly be doubted, for, besides continuing his course of destruction in Georgia, he has ordered East Tennessee to be laid waste as far as Knox. ville. Loyal residents had held a meeting to pro test against this act of wanton barbarity, but pro bably with little effect. HOOD is said to have been repulsed with the loss of six guns near Murfrees bony, but it is admitted that the real position on the Chattanooga Railway, four miles from Nashville, is in Confederate hands, so that the loss is counterbalanced by the gain. Every road south of Nashville is destroyed, and the communication with Chattanooga cut off, while Nashville itself has been turned into a huge fortress. The Confederates have made an in]. portant capture at Decatur, which the Federals have evacuated. They have taken fifteen pontoon boats, which will prove a valuable prize. Another piece of good fortune has occurred to the Confede. rates at New Creek, Piedmont, where, according to their own accounts, ROSSER has captured 800 pri. sonars, 8 cannon, 200 waggons, and 3,000 horses and cattle. The latter more especially will prove very acceptable acquisitions. Altogether the news does not look very favourable for Northern arms; and considering that Federal success only means the desolation of a flourishing country, and the annihilation of a brave people, it is certainly not to I be regretted. THEATRE ROYAL, DRURY - LANE,- Managers, Messrs. E. Falconer and F. B. Chatterton. THIS EVENING, to commence with A YOUNG LAD FROM THE COUN FRY. Messrs. G. Belmore, Fitzjames, and G. F. Neville; Misses Helen Howard, R. Leclercq, &c. ► After which, Shaksnere's Play of CYMBELINE.nMr. Phelps ; Messrs. Creswick, H. Marston, Walter Lacy, i. F. Neville, Edmund Phelps, A. Rayner, &c.; Miss Atkinson and 311ss Helen Paucit. It must by this time have become apparent what the real intentions of Prussia are with regard to the long-talked-of and vexed question of Schleswig- Holstein. First on one side and then on another there are rumours and reports which tend to show the meaning of much that is done and said. The last mentioned circumstance of a suspicions nature is the astounding intelligence that Prussia possesses hereditary claims to the Duchies of Schleswig and Holstein. It would have been more consistent to have begun with this intelligence instead of bring ing it in at the close of a protracted war. Perhaps it was thought that if a straightforward course had been adopted the feelings of many would have been set against the affair, whereas, by putting the un dertaking in the light of a national transaction, it was possible to make out a better case in the eyes of those who might be disposed to criticise and censure. It must, notwithstanding, appear strange to discerning persons that they were allowed to take a wrong view of the matter while the contest was in progress, and now, at the eleventh hour, are hurriedly informed that the real and rightful owners of the Duchies are those who waged war ea the pretence that they wished to see justice ,done between the parties. Such a subterfuge can not possibly answer its purpose, so far as the inde pendent and enlightened States of Europe are concerned, and it is indeed difficult to under stand Why it should have been resorted to at all, except that some persons are never SO satisfied as when they can intineuvre and make up a case from which they , Doors open at ha f-past Six—Commence at Seven. T HEATRE ROYAL, HAYMARKET.- Lessee. Mr. Buckstone. THIS EVENING, THE STRANGER. Messrs. Howe, Chippendale, Rogers,Gordon, Braid, Compton, &c.; Mesdames 9eatrice, Keeley, Fitzwilliam, Moore, &c. After which, ON THE SLY. Mr. Bucksfone. And NO SONG NO SUPPER. Messrs. Compton, Farren, Arthur Clark, Weathersby, ac. ; Mesdames Keeley, Villiers, Moore, Lovell, &c. To commence at 7. OYAL PRINCESS'S THEATRE, Sole Lessee and Manager, Mr. Geo. Vining. 1 . -11) _ _ THIS EVENING, BORN TO GOOD LUCK. I addy O'Rafferty, Mr. Dominick Murray. After which, THE STREETS OF LONDON. Messrs. Vining, J. W. Ray, D. Fisher. D. Murray, J. Nelson, H. Forrebter. H. Mellon ; Mrs. Henry Marston, Miss Emma Barnett, and Miss Fanny Gwynne. ROYAL LYCEUM THEATRE. Under the sole management of Mr. Fechter. THIS EVENING, at 8, RUT BLAS. Messrs. Fechter, Ryder, Fitzpatrick, F. Ch •rle', M'lntyre, Garden, Raymond, Collett, C ifford, Moreland ; Misses Carlotta Lezlercq, H. Percy, and Mrs. Winstanley. Preceded, at 7, by MY WIFE'S OUT. Yfessrs. H. Width tomb, F. Charles ; Misses H. Percy and E. Lavenue. To conclude with NURSEY CHICKWEED. Mr. H. 'Yiddicumb. Doors open at half-past 8 ; commence at 7. The Box-office open daily from Elev,n till Five. N'w I'HEATRE-R0 YAL, AD ELI' ti Bole Propri.tor and Manat,r9r. Mr. B. Webster. THIS EVENING, THE WORKMEN OF PARIS. lVir. Benjamin Webster; Messrs. R. Phillirs, Stuart, J. Clarke, Stephenson, Eburne, C J. Smith; Mrs. Stu-ling, Miss Woolgar (Mrs. A.'Melloe), Miss H. z-,imms. Mrs. Biliington, Mrs. H. Lewis, and Miss A. Seamen. To conclude with DOING BANTING. Mr. J. Clarke, Mr. Stephenson ; Mrs. Lewis and Miss A. Seaman. Commence at 7. ELENILA Mr.l•T : — W N eh F s , t \ e V r be THEATRE ROYALBSB A l'pri AI;to havingannounce pr e _ that the great Tragedie nne , Mi ss BAT 'MAN, tormed with unparalleled success the character of " Leah" tor a period of nine consecutive mo.ths during the last season at this Theatre, and since won the plaudits of thousands in Liverpool, Birmingham, Lublin, Manchester, and iila , igow, she will RE-APPEAR at this Establi,hment JANITAKY 2d, 1855, in her original character of the Jewish Maiden for a limited number of nights, previously to her appearing in other illustrations of the f lassie Drama, which are in prepa ration. The 13,x-office will be opened on Monday, Dec. 19, when places may be secured for Miss Bateman'd engagement a fortnight in advance. R OYAL ST. JAMES'S THEATRE. Manager. Mr. Benjamin Webster. Last Six Nights of the present Management. EMINJ Nr TALENT AND COMEDY DRAMA. THIS EVENING, a new Musical Drama, entitled THE BARONET ABROAD AN THE RUSTIC PRIMA LONNA : Mr. Frank Matthe.i s; Miss Constance Roden. After which, at a quarter to Eight, a new and original Comedy Drama, in three acts, by J. i'algrave Simpson, enti tled SYIIILLA ; or, STEP BY STEP. Mr. and Mrs. Charles Mathews. To conclude with Mr. Maddison Morton's New Comedy Farce of WOOD OCK'S LITTLE GAME. Mr. Charles Mathews, Mrs. Frank Matthews. On Thursday, Dec. U. Benefit of Mr. and Mrs. Charles Mathews. On Saturday, Dec. 24, Benefit of Mr. Benjamin Webster. ROYAL STRAND THEATRE. Sole Lessee and Manageress, Mrs. Swanborough. For the Benefit of Mr. Edward Swanbcrongh. THIS EVENING, at 7, LOVE IN LIVERY. Mr. Parselle ; Miss Carson. After which, ANYTHING FOR A CHANGE. Messrs. Belford and Turner ; Mrs. E. Swanborough. To be followed by MILKY WHITE. Messrs. Craven, Etoyle. James ; Mesdames Swanbor ,ugh and Manders. To conclude with MAZEFPA. Mesdames Raynham, Simpson, &a. COALS.—The LILLESHAL fa COMPANY'S COAL 3. Direct from their own Collieries. Marquis'. 2ss. per ton. I Double.. 21s. per ton. Top 21s. „ Deep „ W,Il screened and delivered within five miles of their De- Pots, Westbourn e P ar k- roa d , W., and 17, South Wharf, addington, W., and Maiden-lane, N. Best Coke Terms cash. JOHN SCOTT, Sole Lent THE THIRD EDITION OF " THE SUN, " Containing the Latest SPORTING INTELLIGENCE, San. be had Every Evening of G. IL GLEN LE, NEvos AGENT, No. 4, Connaught-terrace, Hyde-park. THE LATES I' EDITION of " THE SUN" supplied, as soon as published every Evening by W. ALEMANDEJS (late BROoKS), Newspaper Agent, 21, Old Cavendish-street, Oxford-street. f - 11041 WATER. AT LONDON BRIDGE. Tan DAY.—Morning, sh. 50m.—Afternoon, 6h. 10:n. To-woun.ovr.-Moraing, 6a. 28m.—Afternoon, 6h. 50m. " I ejjt LONDON, MONDAY, DEC. 19, 1864. The Asia brings us civil intelligence of some importance, although the military news is yet contl'oting and uncertain. President LINCOLN'S Message gives little hope of a speedy adjustment of the national difficulties. He still insists upon union pur et simple as the necessary preliminary to Peace, and declares that the end of the war can only be brought about by victory on the part of the North. Re says truly enough that as DAVIS has unmistakably declared that he will accept nothing bat the severance of the Union, it is use -1 -5.3 to attempt negotiation. With en estimated of 620,000,00 0 deficit dole., and a public debt a l rea dy amounting to a stextling sum, and which, it is calculated, that another y ear ' s war will raise to five hundred millions, the PRESIDENT very coolly talks of the national resources being Inez .. hauetible, And proposes to raise 422 000 0 o dole. by loan. The public debt, he says, is a national private property, and should be distributed among all the people. To secure this a limited amount of some future issue might be exempt from taxation and seizure from private debt under certain restric tions. Soon there will be no banks of issue but the Government's, and this, he thinks, will create a reliable and permanent iefluence_in support of the national credit. To ordinary mortals it appears that there is very little either reliable or permanent THE SUN LONDON, MONDAY EVENING, DECEMBER, 19, 1864. regime upon which we are now entering. The Government of King WILLIAM will only be fulfilling the wishes of the people and giving satis• faction to those who have a fall right to be heard in such an important matter as the resumption by Prussia of her just lights, and the possession of her inalienable inheritance that right and reason &like assure to her. The old question again arises, how ever, why were we not told of all this before. If the subjict had been as well ventilated as it ought to have been it would have been heard of by this time far and near, and we should not now be in. formed of its importance and essential bearings upon the point at issue for the first time. It is evident that this part of the vexed question of SchleswipHolstein was purposely kept back until ihe convenient period approached for its discussion. It was deemed expedient that things should take their course, and at the fitting juncture the thin end of the wedge should be inserted, and the momentous undertaking inaugurated whose ultimate result should witness the triumph of German extortion under the convenient misnomer of Russian rights. It is now too late for the witnessing nations of Europe to interfere —the case has been allowed to go by default, but it is important that it should to seen how much and how far those are to blame who let the golden opportunity slip by which, once passed, can never be restored. Had our Government followed the wise initiative of the French Empire, and taken up this Danish affair in good time, how much harm, wrong, and suffering might have been avoided ; but, influenced by most mistaken notions, Lord PALMERSON'S Cabinet turned a deaf ear to all who attempted to arrest the course of Prussian aggreassion, and in all probability neither this generation nor the nest will see the end of the ill advised inactivity, aid the effects of the perverted judgment. Had a firm and decided stand been made, as it ought to have been done, at the outset of this affair, we should never have heard anything of the hereditary rights of Prussia to the Duchies ; but it is like the adage of " give an inch and an ell will be taken," for our cowardice and inaction have brought out the latent qualities of greed and grasp ing which are strong in the German nature, and only need opportunity to develop them to an in• jurious extent. What with one thing and another, it would seem as if nothing that is done and said by this country can now stem the tide of oppression which has set in in the affairs relating to these dis puted Duchies ; at all events it is less of conse quence to dwell on the subject in order that we may be wiser for the future. The records of the past bear truths of awful import and dire significance, which we may read, mark, and learn to our pros fit, if not to our pleasure. The page of history has seldom had a more infamous transaction to record than that which appertains to Schleswig- Holstein, and the sequel of the story may yet astonish those who would not believe the treachery which was all along at work. MR. HOLMAN HUNT purposes making a second lengthened sojourn in the East. He will probably leave this country for tiagdad early in the spring, with the object of painting a Scripture subject on an unusually large scale. A WELCH UNIVERSITY: L 50,000 18 to be sob• scribed in Wales towards the founda•ion of a University for the people of the twelve counties. and an appeal is to be made to the House of Commons for aid in the matter. A considerable portion of the money is already promised, and future meetings of the promoters of the scheme are expected to enable them to complete the sum above named. THE HEY. 0. H. SPURGEON (or Mr. Spurgeon, as he now prefers to style himself) will start a new Monthly Magazine, entitled " The Sword and the Trowel : a Record of Combat with Sin and Labour for the Lord," on the Ist January. It is said that the Magazine will con tain articles of general inter, se, and an account of the pro gress made by the numerous churches started by Mr Spurgeon, or by the church over which he is pastor. Rumour further says it is the intention of the rev. gentle man to compile a new hymn-book. His sermon on " Bap tismal Regeneration," which has recently made such a stir in religious ciroles, has reached the enormous sale of 200,000 copies. FRENCH AND ENGLISH TRANSLATION.--Any one who has undergone the misery of reading an English translation of Balzac or Victor Hugo will be able to appreciate the inadequacy of the French language to re produce works like -hose of " Bea " or Michael Angelo Tit march." " Jeamee's Diary," when cone into French under the title of "Jean de la Pluche," must lose perforce the delicate wit which redeems the original from wearisome absurdity. We remember once meeting with a French translation of David Copperfield. The author was obviously in a terrible strait when he had to translate the unintel ligible exclamation " Goroo, Goroo I" with which the old Jew slopseller at Deptford greeted David on his eight to Dover. The nearest approximation the translator could arrive at wam the paraphrase "Par lea cornea de Moise I" To any one who appreciates the vague idea which obviously floated through the translator's mind in the selection of this oath it will be obvious how utterly impossible it must have been for him to enter into the true spirit of the author of ‘ , Piokr RIC '.--Rfaarcr, extricate themselves with the best grace that they can. It is the best proof that the claims of Prussia to the Duchies have been kept in the background— that they were never put forward in all the tedious and tortuous course of the discussions which took place daring the last few months. Some appa rently sided with the Allied Powers in their extra vagant claims and vehement manner of prosecut ing them; but even they, the few, never remotely hinted that it was the intention of the belligerent Powers to appropriate the spoils of conquest to themselves. It is all very fine for the dodge to be tried now, but the time has gone by when it can be done with any apparent success, or a remote chance of a good tffect. It has been stated in two or three quarters that Prussia has inalienable claims and just rights to these Duchies. Why, in the name of common sense and reason, were they not put forward earlier, when discussion was rife on the subject, and when public attention was turned in that direction. We then heard a great deal of the hardships and injustice that were suffered by the German subjects of the Xing of Denmark, but we did not hear that all the inhabitants of these localities in question were the _lawful subjects of the Ring of Prussia. By slow degrees, by inge nious devices, and by artful contrivances, however, this notion has now become cir• culated, and we are left to wonder at the extraordinary infatuation which has kept those most concerned in the affair so mute during the eventful turn which has taken place in the affairs of the States in question. It is all very fine now, at the eleventh hour, for remarks to be made and statements put forward but what is the use of such. exhibitions when we know that they have been purposely withheld until their utterance cannot be challenged in a material man ner, and taken up so to damege the intentions of their originators and promulgators. In a letter in the Standard of the other day, signed "A Rus sian,' this complicated affair is gone into at great length, and those who glance at it will see how ingenious and dexterous are the contrivances by which the worse is made out to be the better cause. German philosophy is at all times very abstruse and mystical, and difficult for simple folks to under. vend; and certainly the notion of relationship here made out is remarkably involved and intermixed ; but one thing is plain, and that is the right of Prussia to the possession of these disputed Duchies, and doubtless the terms here employed by the writer are significant enough of the future inten tions and deteensined doctrines of the powers that be in Berlin. It is said that the Prussian Govern ment will be held responsible to the Prussiara people if it should prove itself too weak to make its ancient hereditary rights respected. This will then most likely be the test of the new LITERATURE. Reuben Mecllicott ; or, The Coming Man. By M. W. Savage. One Vol., pp. 400. Otapman and Three capital novels 'Ass Savage has written in his time—The Bachelor of the Albany, Reuben Mediicott, and The Falcon Family. The first men , tioned of the three is incomparably the best of them. Nevertheless, in saying this, we mean no disparage ment to the other two, each of which, in its own peculiar way, is excellent. Upon all three of these fictions, the author has manifestly bestowed con siderable pains, But, when he wrote The Bachelor of the Albany, he was in the cue—he was in the vein—he was at his best--inoffensively caustic and slyly humorous. Several years have expired since the latest of these three fictions was penned and published. Since which time, the writer has been otherwise occupied than in contributing to ima ginative literature. Ho has in the interim been engaged in the responsible labours of jour. nalism, for several years editing a distin• guished weekly newspaper the 'conduct of which has been successively entrusted to men of letters, critics, poets, politicians—ae distinguished as Leigh Hunt, Albany Fonblanque, John Forster, Mr Savage himself, and—since Mr Savage's with drawal from the editorial chair—Henry Morley. By a curious misapprehension on the part of one of the writers in the Saturday Review, Mr Savage was formally charged, a week or two tines, with having been, so to speak, guilty of a flagrant anachronism, first of all in having written this book at all, and secondly, in having published it, when so written, only tie recently as nowadays, that is in the year of grace, 1864. The fact of the matter being that " Reuben Medlicott was penned and published a good many years ago—say as many at the very least as sixteen or seventeen. The Saturday Review— altogether unconscious of this, apparently—regard ing the present issae of "Reuben Medlicott" as the first Karim] of it, instead of recognising it to be (as it really is) simply a reprint. Produced nearly 20 years ago, the story here under notice is descriptive 01 English society is London and in the Provinces, pre. cisely as it was then—long before the male popula tion of England had dreamt of leaving off shaving— long before the female population had a notion of distending their petticoats with steel bands, mils* called crinoline. As a picture of that byegone period, the story is faithful to a degree, to a t, to a hair—it is faithful, just within the limits of carica ture. " Unstable as water, " Rusben enters upon life vaguely, dreamily, no one of those " curled darlings," who seem always in search of—what they never settle down to—a profession ! He has his Quaker proclivities. He has an overwhelming laxity of speech—what Jack calls " the gift of the gab"---fancying himself an ora tor, when he is only, if the truth must be told, an egregious bore. He goes philandering about the world as a professed—but wholly inapracticeble— philanthropist. He has a rather dull-witted coun try parson for his father, and a bine-stockinged, green.spectacled, eoi-dimnt strongaminded, but, in honest truth, exceedingly narrow-minded fribbler in arts, sciences, and letters, for his mother. He imagines himself —and is supposed to be by his friends and relations—a genius, almost one might say the genius (of the age)—" The Com ing Man." He is " everything by starts and nothing long." He gets into difficulties. He marries a Qes keress and himself turns almost a Q taker. When in the House of Commons he is for a time one of the joints in the tail of O'Connell. But—the chief no. ticeable circumstance in regard to Ruehen Medlis cott is this—that he has an Uncle I The Very Reverend Dean Wyndham is the character of the Book. In his way, he is equal to Mr. Anthony Trollope's delightful Archdeacon Greatly. We have never enough of him —any more than we have of the Archdeacon. The indivi.. duality of Daan Wyndham is_ perfectly realized. His huge bulk, his immense appetite, his loud voice, his boisterous and overwhelming manner, his truculence, his erudition, his prejudices, his passion for dabbling in bricks and mortar by wholesale and by retail, his marriage (when between seventy and eighty years of age) with a pretty young creature who might have been his granddaughter, eventually even his rapi sffection for his new-burn son —every partieu• tar recounted in regard to the old Dean we read of with a quiet but intense amusement. The character is a creation, It lives in our rememn braise() long after we have closed these amusing chapters descriptive of the career and fortune, the adventures and misadventures of the Coming Man —that Man who is always Coming out but who never does Come out (worth speaking ot) after a —Reuben Medlicott. N ew Editi on , Oue Vol. pp. 598. The Small Rouse at Allin g t on, By Anthony The popularity of Mr Anth ony Trollope, as now adays the foremost among ou r f ashionable noveliets, C l ie m a j p l° L e n . and Hall. receivesnew and season able eru day i t n r h this handsome : Tlt eratively only the h semml:111 valuate at Allington," o till sta as a serial story, drew to its close in the Cornhill Magazine appearing, as it did then, immediately afterwards, in a separate form, as two elegant voiemes, containing within them the whole of Air. Millais' embellish ments. Scarcely, however, has it appeared in that more costly guise when, the whole of the original edition been rapidly e x h auste d , a new, of the work having cheaper, and compa cter issue of the tale becomes requisite according to the view of th e publishers, and, as a m atter of course, appears kccordibgly. As a gilt book it comes out, now, precisely at the righ t Moment, before Christmas , and the New respects it is one of the Year. In same very cleverest of commonplace 8 ersed here and there, very sparsely, with specimens of the Upper Ten Thousand. About the only really charming a p o o p n l g e o jl f I r t . 11 e T m m i i d i d c'P l e e clasp ke , te it t s er p of the heroine—a character in the story is that iirlaYther, we should say, thoroughly Eoge i g i o sh od g , i s r w h eet A -t s em to p t e h r e ed h . e ve r z er as to the two heroes of the book —well, they are own part we should fi si n m d p i l t y d d iffi t e e u s l t t ab to le ctec F id o e f which of them in his own peculiar way is the mere detestable—whether and in j A s, do to lph o u u s r Crosbie or Eames' E a ch of them the m ost unmitigated Johan sense of the phrase, a snob. But, w hil e C ros bi e is, in addition to that pleasant little peculiarity of his, a mean-hearted s coundrel —Eames is, besides being a snob, a bit o f a prig and a bit of a bore. Upon the whole, t h erefore, we should rather be disposed to say t h at the scoundrel is just a trifle the more interesting of the twain—he is at any rate riot neerly such an ass. Adolphus Crosbie, however, i s a wretched vulgarian, tufthunter, toadeatery e d all that sort of thing. Insomuch that it becomes a gratifica tion to the reader to learn all about the Blights, indignities, insults, an d later half of the work. upon his devoted head by gets one or anoth er —h ow he punched on the head, kicked, indul ge d with the agreeable little luxury of a black ey e , and what not, showered in the so forth—even though the puncher, the kicker, and the black eyo alanufec turer happens to be Johnny. As for the aristocrats of the tale, they are happily very exceptionally bad specimens of the class—othera wise a speedy revolution might confidently be looked forward to, Crosbie's father in-law, for example, is, though wearer upon occasion of a coronet and a robe of ermine, as brutal a specimen of the genus hemo as could be found anywhere in the three kingdoms, even in the lowest of the back slams of the metropolis. Johnny's friend, again, the fat, vulgar, old earl, would pass muster almost anywhere, we should imagine, for a grazier rather than for an earl. The high and mighty Mr Palliser, moreover —heir to a dukedom though he is—weighs miserably upon our remembrance as a dreadful dullard. The old squire is good, his crabbed old gardener is excellently good—the . Burton Crescent people are odious, Cradle and the Lupexes being especially or superlatively odious— the Government offices, the boards at those same, old Ruffle Scuffle, mild the like, are depicted in Mr. Anthony Trollope's very happiest manner. As a whole, this tale is thoroughly readable; and, more than that, it is one containing within it lifelike photographic sketches of society as it actually is in (he west-end drawing rooms and the west-end shops, in offices among pens and pounces, in gardens among croquet loops and mallets—the men and women of these times, respectively bearded and crinolined, living snd moving, and talking and act ing in the pages of our novelist, precisely as they live, and move, and talk and act, within the range of our own acquaintance. THE LYCEUM THEATRE, Brilliant Success of Fechter's Ruy Bias. It will scarce :y be matter for surprise —it will certainly be a subjct for congratulation—to the general public, when they learn that Mr. Fechter's masterly impersonation cf Ruy Blas has proved to be a success so enormous at the Lyceum Theatre that it is announced for repetition —every evening until further notice! AU the preparations making at that theatre for Christmas Novelties have, in consequence, had to ba put aside—this all-sufficieLt attraction of "Ruy Bias" filling the house nightly. Upon thie f the latest—as it will be remembered to have been also the earliest—c f his triumphs in this country, we would offer to Mr. Rchter our very cordial congratulations. JOHN LEECH. It is a great mistake, says a writer in the Cornhill Maga. gine, to suppose that pleasant labour is not labour, and that what is done rapidly involves but a slight effort. All con centrated endeavour wears the mind, and it was well said by a painter to one who underrated the worth of a picture produced in a week, " You forget that I have spent my whole life in learning to paint that picture in so short time." But Mr Leech's working was more rapid in appear ance than it was iu reality . He formed his ideas very quickly; he saw his way in a moment. Mr Samuel Lucas went to him once for a little sketch, which he wanted as the initial letter to a tale that was about to appear in 01$06 a Week. It was the story of a clown who had to crack his jokes in a circuit while his wife was in her dying agonies. She was a columbine who, standing on horseback, used to leap through hoops, On the occasion of one of her leaps she missed her looting, fell to the ground, and injured herself fatally. To illustrate this tale a sketch was wanted, suggesting the initial letter I, Before Mr Lucas had ceased speaking the thing was done. I think this is what you want," said Mr Leech, showing him th first draught of the following sketch, which, by the way, is remarkable not alone for its instantaneousness, but also as an indication of what he, who generally took a humorous view of life, could achieve in the direction of tragedy. See, again, how perfect, and how vital, is the slight suggestion of the horse underneath. When Mr Mark Lemon went to him with the suggestion of a cartoon for .Punek, he was always struck with Mr Leech's rapidity of understanding. He would sometimes knock off one of his large cartoons in an hour, or an hour and a half, while the friendly editor chatted with him over a cigar. But although Mr Leech was thus rapid in his conceptions, he very rarely trusted himself to draw in the first instance upon the wood; an 1 the artist who first of all makes a tolerably complete eketch upon paper, then laboriously transfers the sketch to the block by means of a tracing, and then again minutely fills in the details upon the wood, can scarcely be described as a very rapid worker. At all events it is plain that his work gave him an immense deal of minute trouble. One consequence of this, however, is that nearly all his first sketches upon paper remain, and these will probably be soon exhibited by the public. They are of course rough in comparison with his finished work, but in all their roughness they are sometimes even more powerful. In the very last work on which he was engaged in contrast between the bold lines of his first sketch and the minute elaboration of the picture, in so far as it has been transferred to the wood, is more remarkable than ever. 'I his careful elaboration will, to some extent, be seen in the copy of it which we have been permitted to publish, The block itself is too precious a possession to be cut by the engraver; but Mr Mark Lemon, jun., has, by weans of photography, succeeded in transferring its lines to another block which has been cut for our use. The scene is one of a series of what he called Dogleaves, which he intended for the forthcoming Almanac. It is entitled "An Afternoon on the Flags —Compliments;" and between the lady and the dog there is thelaint outline of a huntsman who is supposed to be saying—" She is a beautiful Creechur, ain't she, my L ,dy ? She is'eur ;great Favourite—and Lord °Veneer always says that for Symmetry and High Breeding, and for Beautiful Nose, she's just like your Ladyship." On the day before his death he wrote to hie kind friend and publisher, Mr Evans, that ho had been suffering from "much annoyance and disturbance." The end of the sad story has been told in the newspapers, but one cannot help dwelling on it, in the knowledge that if Mr Leech could have found rest and peace, he might have lived to delight us for many years to come. On that Friday before his death Dr Qtrsin assured him that his only chance was in rest; and when, a few hours befoi e he fainted away, he asked Mr Hu chinson's peruission to work at some drawing—that last unfinished sketch of the lady and the dog—it was given only on the express understanding that it would be an amusement to him. Three hours afterwards, no physician being near him—Dr Quain being out of town, and his other medical friends having left him to rest--his pain returned to him, and in the anguish of it he died. His pain came to him almost while he was in the act of catering for our en tertainment, and he who has done more than perhaps any of his contemporaries, not even excepting Mr Dickens (for no art of words can in this respect keep pace with that of the pencil), to amuse the present generation, died in agonies which he said were too great to be endured. The news of his death rang through London with a dismal shock. "There was a great cry in Egypt, for there was not a house where there was not ono dead," In what home was not John Leech an inmate ? Personally he shunned observation ;he was always very quite and retiring; and few but friends could recognise his handsome face and fine tall figure in a crowd—not even when he rode past on Rod Mullet, a pony for him at least s) diminutive that people declared it was not a perry at all, bat Punch's dog Toby doing duty for one. He, however, who was so little known to sight, was, for a private person, the best known man in England, and hi; death was a death in our homes. Balzac's Poverty and Magnificence. -.4>-____. Three pennyworth of bread, and two of m ilk, and three of sausage -meat, preveeted my dying of hunger, and kept my brain singularly clear. My lodging coat me three sous a day. I burnt my midnight oil for three sous. I was my own house maid. To save the washerwoman, I wore flannel shirts, I warmed myself by charcoal, which is cheap and cheerless. The Jardies became an object of public curiosity. Many travelled from Paris by the railway to Ville d'Avray, only to look at the outside of Bazac's Folly ! There it was, perched up on the steep and slippery ground. The shutters were green ; and truly the house needed shade, for only one tree was near it, and the tree was a huge walnut tree—of historical local celebrity. For some years the inside of this abode was furnished only by Balzn's imagination, as thus explained by Leon Gozlan, his frequent visitor there .—" Upon the bare:stucco walls of each empty room, sentences such as the following were inscribed in charcoal : Here, an adornment in pure Paros marble Here, a pedestal in cedar wood. Here, a ceiling painted by Eng& se Delacroix. Hero, a carpet by Aubusson. Here, a mantelpiece of chiselled marble. Here, doors like those of Trianon. Here, a mosaic inlaid floor, formed of all the rare woods of the isles. adz ac not only allowed jesting upon this ideal furniture, but he laughed even more than I did one day when, in characters still larger than this, I wrote upon the wall or is own room, which was as empty as the other rooms. Here, a picture by Riphael, beyond all price, and such as never has yet been " Tiae same guest, whilst rens chilling testimony to Balzac's hospitality, declares that the host himself drank nothing but water, and ate little meat, but that he consumed a quantity of fruit. "It was in one of the lower compartments of the Jardies that we dined at six o'clock ; although Baizac himself sometimes did not join us until des sert, but he was superb in vegetarian panta gruelisine. Dressed in his ordinary costume at home (i.e. a white cashemire or flannel robs), his cravat off, his shirt open, it was a sight to see him, fruitsknifo in hand, cutting into the pulp of a pear, laughing, drinking water, and I would add, talking—bnt Balzic calked little at a table. He let others talk; he laughed from time to time quietly, or else burst forth like a bomb if any say ing pleased him. Then, his chest inflated, his shoulders danced, and it seemed as though Ra.. belais were before us. Wine was drank freely at Belz4e's table, often too freely.—Fretiels Authors at Horns. The extraordinary action, Travers v. Wilde, which has been occupying the law courts in Dublin for several days, terminated on Saturday. After a brilliant speech by Mr Butt for the plaintiff, the Chief Justice summed up. The jury, after a brief deliberation, returned a verdict for Miss Travers, with one farthing damages. " 1 LA PRINCESSE DE LAMBELLE, ea Vie, sa Mort," Is the name of a work which has been a great success in LATEST INTELLIGENCE [REUTER'S TELEGRAMS.] SPAIN. MADRID, DEC. 18. The official Gazette publishes a decree offering interest at the rate of 8 per cent, on all sums depo sited in the Glivernment Bank of deposit for fixed terms of from four to tight months, and 9 per cant. for periods of eight to twelve months. The Notocias of tosday says:—" Many despatches have been received from the provinces stating that the reinforcement of the Government has been gene. rally approved of." THE BRAZILS. (By Telegraph from Lisbon.) BUENOS AYRES, Nov. 14. Exchange, 49k. Ounces, 2,915. 'Wet salted ox hides nothing doing. Dry American, 32 to 33, firm. Wool, 80 to 100, Lumber, 33 to 40, fist. Flour, 6to 61, dull. Refined sugar, 18 to 19, declining. Imports unchanged. INDIA, CHINA, AND AUSTRALIA. ALEXANDRIA, DEC. 17. The Ripon and Delta left here at 5 p.m. today, Tne former may be expected at Marseilles about the 23d, and the latter at Southampton about the 30th inst. OUIWARD MAIL OF NOV. 27, DEC. 3. The B, , har left Su( z for Bombay on the 12th itlB CADIZ, DEC. 18. The steamer Puerto Rico has arrived here from Havana. FRANCE. BOURSE, Doo. 17.—Tne Three per Cents. are now quoted ex quarterly dividend. The market is dull, but without any further decline in prices. Threes for the Account are nnvaried at 66f. 25c., Mobilier have slightly improved, beinw now at 921 f. 25c. It iilway Market rather more animated. The market left off as follows : 41 per Cents. 93 75 Do. end month 1 per Cents Do. end month 65 30 credit Mobilier 923 75 Do, end month 923 75 Bank Shares 3570 Credit, oneler 1225 Etonian .. 70 7 5 1 sari, Italian Loan 65 46 Do. end month 65 55 Ditto Threes — New Mexican ttuestan Austrian ipani,,h Threes _ Elotne Debt ..... „ Deferred Cash. Account. 845 .. 850 990 .. 930 876 25 .. 872 50 582 50 5u2 50 510 490 .. 491 0r1ean5.„,...., Northern I.yons and Mcditerraneat Southern Western . Eastern • ••• 000000 •g • SE.•rtlinian .. 312 50 Austrian Lornb4trd North of Spain Saragossa 430 .. 430 ._... Ditto to Barcelona ipr onnlat HER MAJESTY. WINDSOR CASTLE, Dec. 17. The Queen, with their Royal Highnesses Prin cess Helena, Princess Louise, Princess Beatriee, and Prince Leopold, left Windsor Casa() this morn• ing at a quarter to 11 o'clock for Osborne. Tne suite in attendance consisted of the Dowager Countess of Mount-Edgcumbe, the Lady Caroline Barrington, the Hon. Mrs Bruce, the Hon. Florence Seymour, Lieutenant-General the Hon. C. Grey, Major-General the Hon. A. N. Hod, Lieutenant. Colonel Du Plat, and Mr Duff. OSBORNE, DEC. 18. Her Majesty, their Royal Highnesses Princess Helena, Princess Louise, Princess Beatrice, and Prince Leopold, arrived at Osborne shortly after 2 o'clock yesterday. Her Majesty crossed over from Gosport in the royal yacht Alberta, Captain his Serene Highness Prince Leiningen. ' This morning the Rev J. Prothero performed Divine service at Osborne before her Majesty, Princess Helena, and Prince Leopold, and the Ladies and Gentlemen iu Waiting. Departure of the Queen for Osborne, WINDSOR, D..c. 17. The Queen left Windsor Castle at a quarter toll this morning for Osborne, The royal party drove to the Windsor terminus of the Great Western Railway in close carriages, that occupied by the Queen being drawn by a couple of milk white horses. At the station a special train of seven carriages, including two state saloons, had been provided by the Landon and South Wes tern Railway Company, the luggage and horses be longing to the royal household having been previ , ously despatched. In spite of the wintry aspect of the day there was a numerous assemblage of spectators, and the plat. form was thronged with persons who had assem bled to witness her Majesty's departure. The special train, in charge of Mr Grierson, who accompanied it to Busingtoke, left Windsor at 10.55 a.m., just nine minutes behind the time arranged for its depatture, and, drawn by a Great Western engine, proceeded at a steady rate along the narrow gauge of the latter line—via Slough. Ater leaving the latter junction the pace was quickened, and Reading, which was enveloped in a heavy snow storm, was soon made. Hero and at the stations to Basingstoke, which was reached at 12.3 p.m., the platforms were crowded with spectators. Her Majesty was received with marks of the greatest respect, though all were silent. There were no guards of honour either at Wind• sor or Gosport, as the journey was conducted with the greatest quietude. THE ROYAL INSURANCE COMPANY'S ALMANAC FOR 1865.—T0 deal with all the facts embodied in this instructive volume, would involve us in a larger task than we have space for; we must therefore be content with some of the more salient features presented to us. The first tact gleaned from these pages is the rapid yet regular pro gress presented by the caretr of the Royal Insurance Com pany. Who, it might be asked, among tho millionaires of Europe would well vie with it in position, seeing that its income is more than £600,000 per annum, a hile its accumu lated resources exceed oue million sterling. To high in tegrity , t has conjoined a conspicuous liberality, while the promptitude with which every claim has been met, sup plies a letter of recommendation wherever its agencies are to be found. An unquestionably large experience has en abled the Royal to calculate risks with almost unparalleled exactitude, while year by year fresh accessions have been made to its staLility, until at the jest annual meeting we find no less than £156.000 added to its reserve fund. Moreover, the office has been highly complimented by an authoritative financier for the accuracy with' which its balance sheets have been presented to the House of Commons ; and so ex traordinary have been its successes, that in the last return of percentage duty paid to the Crown, the Royal is again placed at the head of all insurance offices as regards in crease of business. Economy of expenditure is also another important feature of the management of this company, and goes far to justify its strong hold upon the confidence of the public, No failing busizesoes have been purchased, no amalgamations effected. The Royal has been content to remain saw in gloria. A very cruet 'use of breach of promise of marriage was tried in the Court of Exchequer on Saturday. The defendant, a publican named Sadler, had, under promise of marriage, seduced a young girl named Aarons, only 14 years of age. The judge in summing up commented severely on the conduct of the defendant, and the jury gave the plaintiff £5OO damages. LIFE,BOATEL—During the past two years the lifeboats of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution have been manned, on all occasitne, by about 12,000 persons; and it is a gratifying and encouraging _fact to find that, with the exception of the two poor neon who jumped out of the Tyrieraouth lifeboat on the night of the 24th ult., not a single life has been lust from the lifeboats during these two years. 'Mat one or two exceptions the boats have been readily and promptly manned during the fiercest storms. The Nat iunal Lifeboat Institution has now one hundred anti 034 4 - eight lifeboats under its management, THE PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE. Fellow Citizens of the Senate and House of Representatives : Again the blessings of health and abundant har vests claim our profoundest gratitud! to Almighty God. T'.3 condition of our foreign affairs is ressoariblY satisfactory. RELATIONS WITH OTIIEIt STATES, close. THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. I learn with much satisfaction that the noble design of a telegraphic communication between the Eastern coast of American and Great Britain be e been renewed, with full expectation of its early accomplishment. Thus it is hoped that with the return of domesti c peace, the country will be able to resume, Wit h energy and adv an t age , h er f ormer h i gh career of commerce and civilisation. Our very popular and estimable representative in E g ypt di e d in AP" !est. An unpleasant altercation which arose betwee n the temporary incumbent of the office and the Gn; vernment of the Pacha, resulted in a suspension ° intercourse. The evil was promptly corrected °/1 the arrival of the successor i n the Consu l ate , and our relations with Egypt, as well as our relations with Barbary powers, are entirely satisfactory. The rebellion which has long been fisgrant is China, has at last been suppressed with the co - ° 7B° rating good offices of the Government and of t ", other Western commercial St ates . Th e j u dicla: consular establishment has become very difficult el) : onerous, and it will nee d l egis l at i ve requ i s i t ion t adapt it to the ext ens i on o f our commerce, and to the more intimate int ercourse w hi c h has b een Do ti : tuted with the Goverment an d peop l e o f t h a t 05 empire. China seems to be ac ce pti ng w i t h hearty g°°cl will the conventional la ws w hi c h regu l ate cowl:ne t. cial and social intercourse among the West ern nations. Owing to the peculiar situation of Japan and the anomalous form of its Goverment the action of a t ' empire in performing treaty stipulations is inc °ll : stant and capricious. N e v er th e l ess , goo d progre 6 has been effected by the Western Powers mooing with enlightened concert. Our own pecuniary claims have been allowed or put in course of settle" ment, and the Inland Sea h as been re-opened t commerce. There is also reason to believe that these P r° : ceedings have increased rath er th an dimioished , friendship of Japan toward the United States. INSURRECTIONARY PORTS. The ports of Norfolk, Fernaudina and Pensacola base been opened by proclamation. It is hoped that foreiSi: merchants will now consider whether it is not ea" t ' : ( l 's more profitable to themselves as well as just to the Ti rit to States to resort to thote and other open ports than i t is o .. pursue through many hazards, and at vast cost, a c oll, b y band trade with other ports which are closed, if n ot actual military occupation, at least by a lawful and tirdc„Na blockade. SLAVE TRADER. For myself, I have no doubt of the S power and atitY °f ° executive, under the law of nations, to exclude ene nueB the human race from an asylum in the United States. If Congress; should think that proceedings in such ca tl lack the authority of law, it ought to be f ur ther reg al 3 1 by it. I recommend that provision be made for efloctu..ll; preventing foreign slave traders from acquir:ng and facilities for their criminal occupation in our COulltr,' REBEL BELLIC4BREN CY rY- It is possible that if it wore a now and open questioll, maritime Powers, with the light they now enjoy, wct,.. not concede the privileges cf a naval belligerent to the 1-ti surgents of the United States, destitute es they ere':tir. always have been, equally of ships and of port s and "- Weirs. Disloyal emissaries have been neither less assiclueu:i-0,3 more successful during the last year than they vN le to that time, in their efforts under favour of that privilleg' embroil our country in foreign wars. States to The desire and determination of the maritim e 1 1- defeat that design are believed to be as sincere as, 8/3' -a not be more earnest than, our own. Nevertheless unfor c est iP n L political N: northernespeclally in Brazilian and British ports, and on the boundary of the United States which 1:°,0 required and are likely to continue to require and practice of constNnt vigilance, and a i v '! ,fs conciliatory spirit on the part of the United tao: as well a s of the nations concerned, and their G overn lel l ita Commissioners have be en appointed under the treat , ' ° to ., Ifficulties have arisen,- Great Britain on the adjustment of the claims of tl 3 ° . 11 ja son's Bay and Puget Sound Agricltural orepani°tila Oregon, and are now proceeding to the execution ca trust assigned to theme TH E clAx 41DA BORDER. , i cat (0 In view of the insecurity , of life in the region ("va Mexico continues to be a theaf re of civil Wet While our political relations with that country have undergone no cnange, we have at the same titra strictly maintained neutrality between the belli- gerents. At the request of th e S ta t es o f C os ta Rica and Nicaragua, a competent engineer has been authorised to make a survey of the River San Juan. It is a source of much satisfaution that the difficul ti ' 3 which for a moment excited some political aPPr e ' henaions and c ruscd a closing o f the inter oceanic transit route have been amicably ad: justed, and th a t th ere i s a goo d proaP-e" that the route will soon be reopened with an in crease of cipacity and adaptation. We could not ex aggerate either the commercial or political impart mace of that great improvement. It would be do ing injustice to an important South American State riot to acknowled g e th e di rectness , f ran kness, an d cordiality with which the United States of Colour his have entered into intimate relations with t 13113 Government. A Claims Convention has been O a° stituted to complete the unfinished work of the " a which closed its session in 1861. The new liberal constitution of Venezuela W il l gone into effect with th e un i versa l acqu i t scenca e the people, the Government under it has been r e ' cognised, and diplomatic intercourse with it ba g been opened in a cordial and friendly spirit. The long-deferred Ayes Island claim has bee ° satisfactorily paid and discharged. Mutual Par' ments have been made of the claims awarded by Ol e late joint commission for the settlement of ch air° between the United States and Peru. An earnest and cordial friendship continues f° exist between the two countries, and such elf)rts 59 were in my power have been used to remov e misunderstanding, and avert a threatened war between Peru and Spain. Our relations are Of t he most friendly nature with Chili, the Argentine Re public, Bolivar, Costa R'ca, Paraguay, San S- 11 °' - dor, and Hayti. During the pet yeai no differen c° of any kind have arisen with any of these Re Pe b : lice; and, on the other hand, their sympathies wit' the United States are constantly expressed wit' cordiality and earnestness. The claim arising from the seizure of the narV i of the brig M ace d on i a i n 1821 h as b een pa id i n fill' by the Government of Chili. Civil war continues in the Spanish part of Sa n Domingo, apparently without prospect of an o'l/ Official correspondence has been freely opened f with Liberia, and it g i ves us a pleasing viol, social and politic a l p rogress i n that Repu bli c . may be expected to derive new vigour from /W e. dean influence, improved by the rapid disappea r ' ante of slavery in the United States. I solicit your authority to furnish to the Republic a gunboat at a moderate cost, to be reimbursed t° the Unit e d St a t es b y i nsta l ments. Such a vesse l le needed for the safety of that State against the native African races, and in Liberian hands it would be more effective in arresting the African slave trade than a squadron in our own hands. The possessice of the least organised naval force would stimulate 3 generous ambition in the Republic, and the 0 00 . 4 deuce which we sho u ld man if est b y f urn i s hing It would win forbearance and favour toward the colony from all civilised nations. The proposed overland telegraph between Areeric! and Europe, by the way of Behring's Straits an d Asiatic Russia, which was sanctioned by Congres s at the la3t session, has been undertaken, under very favourable circumstances, by an assoc i a tion of American citizens, w ith th e cor di a l goo d w ill a nd support as well of this Government ns of those 0 ' Great Britain and Russia. Assurances have been received from most of the South American States of their high appreciation of the enterprise, and their readiness to co-operate in constructing lines tributary to that world-en' circling communications. lik c 4 i el etc Nll 110 11.1 15,4r1 MTh 1 114 4 e 4 ° Pl 40 k ola kin: /t; 1Y t l'4. 'llai ki,at t e , y r , 4 A 4 : (1 4 , 111 h - eri ,fat ►